Shoe and the method of making the same.



T. F. WHELANV SHOE AND THE METHOD OF MAKING THE SAME.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 24. I916.

Patented Aept. 4, 191?.

nu ears as men.

THOMAS F. WHELAN, 0F EAST ORANGE, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR T0 UNITED SHGE MACHINERY COMPANY, OF PATERSON, NEW

JERSEY.

JERSEYQA conronn'rron or NEW SHOE AND THE METHOD OF MAKING THE SAME.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, THOMAS F. WHELAN, a citizen of the United States, residing at East Orange, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey, have invented certain Improvements in Shoes and the Methods of Making the Same, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like reference characters on the drawings indicating like parts in the several figures.

This invention relates to the manufacture of shoes and p .rticularly to a novel construction of shoe and the method by which this construction is secured. More particularly the invention concerns a method of manufacture which produces a shoe having at the central rear end of its counter a convexed portion forming a heel-gripping pocket with its concave face conforming snugly to the convex rear face of the heel.

In the manufacture of high grade shoes, a desideratum is the production of an upper whose counter portion has a concavity on its inner side at the heel end which will fit snugly over the convex rear end of the heel forming a pocket for the heel of the wearers foot so that the shoe, particularly if it be a pump or oxford, shall grip the heel and shall have no tendency to slip up and down. Such a construction, to be practicable, must conform closely to the vertical curvature of the heel end face of the last and must perinanently retain its shape to provide a perfect and permanent fit and a pleasing appearance at the rear end of the shoe.

With these considerations in mind, one feature of my invention consists in a shoe having the counter portion of its upper formed of two side pieces having their ends extended beyond the longitudinal median line of the shoe and stitched together with their edges in parallelism and with the overlapped portion of. the side pieces convexed permanently to form a concaved heel-gripping pocket on the interior of the shoe at the median line. Preferably, there are two lines of stitches closely adjacent to the edges of the overlapped ends and in parallelism so that the rear of the upper presents a straight back seam afiording a pleasing appearance and dispenses with the necessity Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 4t, 1911 "3.

Application filed March 24:, 1918. Serial No. 86,417.

of a back stay. I employ the term counter portion of the upper as being more accurately descriptive than rear or heel end of the vamp, or similar phraseology, since all Vamps do not extend back to and include the counter and heel end of the upper.

Specifically, this feature of the invention consists in a shoe with the counter portion of its upper formed of two side pieces having the edges of their ends convex and extended beyond the longitudinal median line of the shoe to overlap, and stitched together with their edges in parallelism. The provision of convex edges for the overlapping ends necessarily results in bowing or convexing the overlapped portions vertically of the counter when the overlapped ends are stitched together with their edges in parallelism and insures the permanency of shape of the concaved heel-gripping pocket on the interior of the counter at the longitudinal median line of the shoe.

Preferably, and as a further feature, the convex rear edges are of a curvature in excess of the vertical curvature of the rear end face of the heel of the last to provide fullness to enable the overlapped portions to be conformed to the horizontal curvature of the heel end face of the last by the lasting tension in forming the shoe.

A further feature of the invention consists in the method of forming the rear ends of the counter portions of shoeuppers having two side pieces joined at the heel end of the shoe which consists in providing side pieces having a length suflicient to extend beyond the longitudinal median line of the heel from o posite sides to overlap, feeding the two side pieces through a stitching mechanism with the edges overlapped and in substantial parallelism to convex the overlapped portions vertically of the counter. Preferably the stitchin extends along and adjacent to the edges or the respective overlapped portions. a

In another and more specific aspect the novel method of forming the rear ends of the counter portions of shoe uppers employing two side pieces joined together at the heel end of the shoe consists in providing side pieces having a length suflicient to extend beyond the longitudinal median line of the back seam and with a shoe from opposite sides to overlap and havof stitches extend in parallelism along and closely adjacent to the edges forming a straight back seam.

The described method of forming and uniting the side pieces of the counter portion of the shoe upper provides the upper at the rear end of the shoe with a straight pocket on the inside of the counter concaved vertically of the counter and of permanent contour corresponding closely to the vertical contour of the rear end face of the last upon which the shoe is to be made.

In the illustrated manner of practising this novel method, I overlap the convex rear edges of the side pieces upon one another at, say, the upper edge of the counter por tion, with the body portions of the side pieces extending in opposite directions and, beginning at this upper edge stitch the overlapped portions together, manipulating the overlapping portions as the stitching proceeds to present them to the stitching mechanism with their edges in parallelism and because of this parallel relation, cupping or convexing the overlapped portion longitudinally of its edges and vertically of the counter so that the united side pieces are formed on their inner side with a ver-. tically concaved heel-gripping pocket of ermanent shape. Preferably, twolines of stitches extend closely adjacent to and parallel to the edges of'the overlapped ends and to each other, andas these edges are united in parallelism, a straight back seam of pleasing appearance results from the operation. The raised surface produced by overlapping the ends and the lines of'stitching near each edge of the overlapped ends give the appearance of a back stay and dispenses with the necessity of a separate back stay and from this standpoint effects the heel-seaming and back-staying by a single operation.

The invention will be more fully understood from the following detailed description in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a plan viewshowing the counter-forming portions of the two side pieces of the upper overlapped preparatory to stitching;

Fig. 2 is a view showing the overlapped ends in the process of being stitched together with edges parallel and with overlapped portions convexed, stitching and guiding mechanism being indicated by dotted lines;

Fig. 3 is a perspective invertedview of the rear end of a completely stitched and folded counter portion of the upper; and

Fig. 4: is a rear elevation of the folded counter portion of the upper.

In the drawings, the two side pieces of the counter portion, or that part of the upper leather of a boot or shoe which is below the seam at the ankle, are indicated at 2. hese side pieces are cut with rearward ex tensions equal to one-half of the width of the overlap which is desired at the back of the counter substantially in the longitudinal median line of the shoe.

Each side piece is provided with a convex rear edge, the curvature of which is preferably in excess of the vertical curvature of the rear end face of the heel to provide fullness for fitting the overlap to the horizontal curvature of the rear end of the heel.

The convex edge of that side piece which is'to be located on the outer side of the shoe is preferably skived on its flesh side. Then the convex rear edges of the two side pieces are overlapped at one end, as at the upper end of said edges, the flesh face of the outer side piece being placed over the grain face of the inner side piece.

Then two preferably parallel rows of stitches are inserted closely adjacent to the respective edges of the overlapped portions of the work and the two side pieces are progressively manipulated, as the sewing proceeds, by turning them ahead of the stitching and bowing them out of a plane to locate and maintain the overlapped convex edges parallel with each other while they are being stitched together, as in Fig. 2.

If the stitching has been done with the flesh face of the side pieces outermost, the work is now turned and will be found to present a heel pocket on the inside which will fit the vertical contour of the rear end of the last and, additionally, will present on the outer side the appearance of a back stay edged on either side by a line of stitching. The overlapping of the side pieces produces a double thickness whichcauses this portion to stand out more or less from the laterally adjacent portions of the upper similarly to a back stay.

The connected side pieces of the upper are then folded to bring their foreparts into synnnetrical relation as in Fig. 3 and it Will be found that the lines of Stitching connecting the overlapped convex or reversely curved edges of the side piece constitute, in the finished product, a straight. upright back seam, with one line of stitching on either side of the median line at the rear end of the counter.

\Vhen this portion of the upper is applied to a last the pocket formed by the described operations will lie in the longitudinal median line of the shoe and counter and will, Without crimping, fit the rounded rear end of the last without stretching the difierent parts of the rear portion of the upper relatively and distorting it, and therefore when the shoe is removed from the last noreactions tend to change the shape of the heel part of the upper. Indeed the heel end of the upper will have such a snug fit over the heel of the last that the assembling of the upper on the last is greatly facilitated and that the assembling tacks usually inserted at this point may be dispensed with.

When a shoe having an upper made in accordance with this invention is in use, it will conform to and cling upon the wearers foot without binding and if a low shoe, it will not slip up and down at the heel. Thereis economy in manufacturing this shoe over the best methods heretofore available because the leather is cut to better advantage than when a separate back stay of proper shape has to be provided; the back seaming and the back staying are completed in a single operation, and the lasting of a wellfitting heel is effected easily. The close conformity of the overlapped ends to the vertical contour of the heel end face of the last and the provision of fullness to enable theioverlapped portions to conform to the horizontal contour of this portion of the last enables the side pieces of the counter portion of the upper to be drawn by the subsequent lasting operation into very close conformity to the sides of the last without wrinkling or distortion. The invention in its broad aspects, however, is not limited to the heel ends of shoes but is applicable, for instance, to the toes or other parts of the shoe having two pieces overlapped ands.

convexed vertically of. the shoe. This is intended to include two pieces of stock for the end of a shoe other than the upper materials, and inay include, for example, stifiener material in the form of a two-part counter stitched together in accordance with the present invention;

Preferably, in practice, a two-needle stitching mechanism will be employed, with suitable guidesfor the overlapped edges-of the side pieces. One form of such mechanism which may-be advantageously employed is described and claimed in the co-pending application of William T. Benjamin filed April 24., 1916, Serial No. 93,162.

Having explained the natureof this invention and described how it may be practised, I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent of the United States:

1. A shoe with the counter portion of its upper formed of two side pieces having their rear ends extended beyond the longitudinal median line of the counter to overlap with the overlapping portions convexed vertically of the counter to form on the inner face of the counter a concave heelgrlpping pocket and stitched together with their edges in parallelism.

2. A shoe with the counter portion of its upper formed of two side pieces having the edges of their rear ends convex and extended beyond the longitudinal median line of the counter to overlap and stitched together with their edges in parallelism.

3. A shoe with the counter portion of its upper formed of two side pieces having their rear ends provided with convex edges of a curvature in excess of the vertical curvature of the rear end face of the heel and extended beyond the longitudinal median line of the counter to overlap, and stitched together with their rear convex edges in parallelism.

4. A shoe with the counter portion of its upper formed of two side pieces having their rear ends extended beyond the longitudinal median line of the counter to overlap and having their overlapped ends stitched together with the edges in parallelism and with the overlap ing portions convexed both vertically and laterally of the counter to form on the inner face of the counter a concaved heel-gripping pocket.

5. A shoe with the counter portion of its upper formed of two side pieces having their rear ends formed to extend beyond the longitudinal median line of the counter to overlap with the overlapping portions convexed vertically of the counter to form a heel-gripping pocket and with the overlapped ends stitched together with their edges in parallelism by two lines of stitches extending along and adjacent to said edges and forming an upright back seam.

6. A shoe with the counter portion of its upper formed of two side pieces'having the edges of their rear ends convex and extended beyond the longitudinal median line of the counter to overlap and stitched together with their convex edges in parallelism by two lines of stitches extending along and adjacent to said edges and forming an upright back seam.

7 A shoe with the counter portion of its upper formed of two side pieces having their rear ends provided with convex edges and extended beyond the longitudinal median line of the counter to overlap with the overlapped portions convexed both vertically and laterally of the counter withtheir edges positioned substantially in parallelism and stitched together.

8. A shoe with the counter portion of its upper formed of two side pieces having their rear ends provided with convex edges of a curvature in excess of the vertical curvature of the rear end face of the heel and extended beyond the longitudinal median line of the counter to overlap with the overlapped -erally of the counter and with their edges positioned substantially in parallelism and stitched together.

9. A shoe having two pieces of stock with the edges of their ends convex and extended beyond the longitudinal median line of one end of the shoe to overlap and stitched together with their edges in parallelism.

10. The method of forming shoes having two pieces of stock joined at the end of the,

shoe which conslsts in forming the pieces with their edges convexly shaped, overlapping the ends of the pieces, and feeding the overlapped ends to a stitching mechanism with their convex edges in parallelism to unite the overlapped ends with their overlapped portions convexed vertically of the shoe.

11. The method of forming the rear ends of the counter portions of shoe uppers having two side pieces joined at the rear of the shoe which consists in forming the side pieces of a length to extend their rear ends beyond the longitudinal. median line of the counter and with their rear edges convexly shaped, overlapping the rear ends of the side pieces at one edge, and feeding the overlapped-edges through a stitching mechanism and manipulating the ends to maintain their edges in parallelism to unite the overlapped ends with their overlapped portions convexed vertically of the counter.

12. The method of forming the rear ends of the-counter portions of shoe uppers hav ing two side pieces joined at the rear of the shoe which consists in forming the side pieces of a length to extend their rear ends beyond the longitudinal median line of the counter with their rear edges convex and of a curvature in excess of the vertical curvature of the rear end face of the heel of a last to provide fullness for fitting the overlapped portions to the horizontal curvature of the rear end face of the heel of the last, overlapping the rear ends of the side pieces at one edge of the counter and feeding the overlapped ends to a stitching mechanism with their edges in parallelism to unite the overlapped ends with their overlapped portions convexed vertically of the counter.

13. The method of forming the rear ends of the counter portions of shoe uppers having two side pieces joined at the rear of the shoe which consists in forming the side pieces of a length to extend their rear ends beyond the longitudinal median line of the counter and with their rear edges convexly shaped, overlapping the rear ends of the side pieces at feeding the overlapped ends to a stitching mechanism while manipulating the ends to maintain their edges in parallelism to unite the overlapping edges with their overlapped portions convexed vertically of the counter and permanently held in such relation by lines of stitches extending adjacent to and in substantial parallelism with said edges and with each other and forming an upright back seam.

14. The method of forming .the counter portions of shoe uppers having two side pieces joined at the rear of the shoe which consists in forming the side pieces of a length to extend their rear ends beyond the longitudinal median line of the counter and with their rear edges convex and of a curvature in excess of the vertical curvature of the rear end face of the heel of a last to provide fullness for fitting the overlapping portions to the horizontal curvature of the rear end face of the last, overlapping the rear ends of the side pieces at-one edge of the counter, feeding the overlapped ends to a stitching mechanism while manipulating the ends to maintain their edges in parallelism to unite the overlapped ends with their overlapped portions convexed vertically of the counter and permanently held in such relation by lines of stitches, and conforming the overlapped edges and side pieces to the horizontal contour of the heel end and sides of the counter of the last by lasting.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

THOMAS F. WHELAN.

one edge of the counter and 

